In California's rural, conservative north, there are big dreams for cleaving the state https://t.co/bkiymKsR4d pic.twitter.com/xk2rdavGCb
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 17, 2018
The two young, blond women in figure-flattering ball gowns hoisted whiskey and shotguns.Pfft.
An auctioneer rattled off bids. Above the stage in the banquet hall hung a green flag for the 51st state of Jefferson, with its pair of Xs called a “double-cross” representing a sense of rural abandonment.
Hundreds of people packed into the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9650 hall on this chilly Saturday night, ready to crack open wallets to help fund their dream of carving — out of California’s northernmost reaches — a brand new state.
Someone offered $350 for a state of Jefferson belt buckle. Someone else won a lamb, still in its mother’s womb, that should be born in time to be butchered for Easter. Outside, vehicles bore bumper stickers supporting President Trump and the 2nd Amendment.
“We Okies are fun, aren’t we?” one man quipped.
The scene last month in this small Shasta County city seemed like a perfect we’re-not-in-California-anymore-moment. That is, if you only knew California as the diverse, liberal bastion whose elected officials have tried to stymie the Trump administration’s moves on immigration, legalized marijuana, climate change and so on.
But the so-called Northstate is looking less and less like the rest of the Golden State. The vast, sparsely-populated region is whiter, more rural and poorer than the rest of the state — and residents are more conservative. While California has become the center of the resistance to Trump, a number of Northern Californians are waging a resistance of their own: against California itself.
Inside the banquet hall, the man many see as the founder of the modern Jefferson movement told the crowd that their gun rights, property rights, grazing rights and water rights were under siege by politicians who write them off as “country bumpkins.”
“You’re the ones being exterminated by a lack of liberty,” said Mark Baird, a Siskiyou County rancher.
The breakaway state of Jefferson is a decades-old idea, but it has been revived in earnest in recent years by residents who say they are fed up with their voices being drowned out in Sacramento, where outspoken urban Democrats hold a vise grip on the state Legislature.
Supporters say overregulation has hobbled rural industries such as timber, mining and fishing and that the state’s high taxes and cost of living are driving young people away, quickening the decline of small towns. They chafe under California’s strict gun-control policies and are infuriated by its liberal immigration laws.
They cite California’s new gas tax increase of 12 cents per gallon, saying it has an outsize impact on rural people who drive farther for work and basic needs such as hospitals, schools and grocery stores.
How likely is it that a new state will be broken off, like a piece of Kit Kat bar, from California? Not likely at all, experts say.
Eric McGhee, a political scientist at the Public Policy Institute of California, said that while you can “never say never,” there are too many legal obstacles to overcome.
“It’s easy to think that because there’s this large piece of territory, that it’s a large share of California in terms of the population," he said. “That’s just not the case. … It’s an absolutely minuscule portion of the state’s population.”
Supporters of a breakaway state say they are sorely underestimated and point to the number of passionate people who show up to their events. One man put it this way: “We’re not a bunch of dumb rednecks.”
But some Northern Californians have had enough of talk of breaking away from California. After several county boards began considering Jefferson proposals, Kevin Hendrick, a retired municipal employee from Crescent City, in Del Norte County, formed a political action committee in 2015 called Keep It California to oppose the idea.
“You’ve got a handful of residents that are grumpy and pining for the good old days, but that shouldn’t represent all the good people living in rural counties,” he said...
Elementary school walkout in Alexandria, Virginia. More than 65 kids, and they are totally silent. Look at those faces. pic.twitter.com/ThyzDtyGo5— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) March 14, 2018
Yes, look at them. These are the faces of exploited children who are being made afraid by adults. https://t.co/DOOrz7hoJG— Melissa Mackenzie 🌐 (@MelissaTweets) March 15, 2018
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) March 13, 2018
How Trump’s fragile ego sabotages American foreign policy, encapsulated in one horrifying paragraph. https://t.co/AiXgyXkiiR pic.twitter.com/CkQa64NyQ6
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) March 13, 2018
Remarkable statement from State Department spokesman on Tillerson firing: pic.twitter.com/iBpLaK1tXw
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 13, 2018
Stunning to see a US Secretary of State, only recently head of Exxon, deliver an emotional speech after being suddenly fired.
— Michelle Kosinski (@MichLKosinski) March 13, 2018
Fired State Department spokesman was asked whether he anonymously criticized White House and Trump's decisions. “I spoke for the secretary of state. That was part of my role as the undersecretary," he said. https://t.co/aeVdv7YfEb
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) March 13, 2018
Transcript: Tillerson emphasizes allies in first remarks since firing but doesn’t mention Trump https://t.co/927GbjpGh5
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 13, 2018
‘Punish a Muslim Day’ Letters Rattle U.K. Communities https://t.co/hjbTTl7FA7
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 11, 2018
UK charity urges vigilance after 'Punish a Muslim Day' letters https://t.co/e4ByHecRHr
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 11, 2018
Horrific 'Punish a Muslim Day' letters sent out offering rewards for violencehttps://t.co/vrf6FvLzeS pic.twitter.com/6vHZg2SpjR
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) March 10, 2018
Wow @bariweiss is killing it on @RealTimers she lays it out so perfectly— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) March 10, 2018
